Prairie CCA Board Incorporation Update 

We are pleased to report that the PCCA Board has recently completed the task of becoming incorporated.  This change was necessary with the ICCA's announcement to expand the CCA program into other countries, and the potential tax implications of new program licensing agreements.

We don’t expect this will change many things from a member’s standpoint, however, we do anticipate some services being transferred to Winnipeg from the Wisconsin office.  This transition is expected to occur over the next several months.  As these changes occur, we will let you know how this impacts you.

John Harapiak Award Recipient

Gary Martens of the Faculty of Agriculture & Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba was presented with the 2010 John Harapiak Award on behalf of the Prairie CCA Board at the Manitoba Agronomists Conference in Winnipeg on December 15, 2010.

The award, presented by Thom Weir (left) of Viterra, is given in recognition of outstanding achievement and innovation in Canadian Prairie crop production and significant contribution to the Prairie Certified Crop Adviser Program.  The first recipient was John Harapiak, who recently passed away from cancer.

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Changes to ICCA Board Structure
 

At the last International CCA Board meeting there was much discussion about a new structure for program. With the onset of new countries entering the CCA program, such as India, Argentina, etc., the ICCA wanted to put forth a structure that would easily accommodate the entry of these countries while ensuring fair representation of new and existing members of the CCA Program. 

A task force which involved input from the Prairie Board was formed to examine and make recommendations to address the challenges of expansion.  The current ICCA Board structure which includes 1 representative from each of the 37 North American regional boards plus 1 representing India’s national board will change as the task force recommendations were ratified in an ICCA vote this spring. 

The new structure will continue to see the American Society of Agronomy act as the credentialing organization and the ICCA is responsible for certification and establishing of overall program policies. Each country (national board) gets a seat on the council and one vote.

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Two thirds of the voting members must be favour of a motion in order for that motion to move forward to the newly formed National CCA Boards. A national board vote represents the number of CCAs within the country. For example, the U.S. has 10,000 CCAs and if the U.S. national board votes to adopt the Council's recommendation, then the U.S. vote is 10,000 in favour. In Canada we will need to form a new national council between the Prairie, Ontario and Atlantic programs. 

The image below provides a visual description of the board structure. Anyone with questions is invited to contact Prairie CCA Past Chair Eric Gregory.